Katie Lynn Hovis, 30, of Festus has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for drug trafficking and drug possession. She already was serving a five-year prison sentence for previous drug-related convictions, according to court documents.
On Nov. 1, Hovis pleaded guilty to second-degree drug trafficking and three counts of illegal possession of a controlled substance, and that same day Jefferson County Div. 5 Circuit Judge Victor Melenbrink sentenced her to 10 years for the drug trafficking charge and 10 years for each of the three drug possession charges. However, the four sentences will be served concurrently, or at the same time, court records show.
Hovis previously pleaded guilty to four drug possession charges following arrests in Crystal City and Festus in 2017, and Jefferson County Div. 4 Circuit Judge Brenda Stacey sentenced Hovis to five years in prison for each of those charges. She was serving those sentences concurrently, and she will serve that five-year prison term concurrently with the 10 years she was sentenced to in this month, court papers said.
Assistant prosecuting attorney Lindsay Whalen handled the recent case against Hovis as well as the two cases in 2019.
Arnold Police arrested Hovis at about 3:45 p.m. Sept. 18 outside the WoodSprings Suites hotel, 888 Arnold Commons Drive, after finding drugs and paraphernalia in a 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix she was driving. The officers searched the car after Hovis abruptly pulled into a parking spot outside the hotel and a police dog indicated there could be illegal substances in the car, the probable-cause statement in the case said.
Officers found a bag containing a rock-like substance that tested positive for methamphetamine and capsules containing a substance that tested positive for fentanyl, along with a grinder, two glass smoking devices, numerous plastic bags, a digital scale and a glass bong, the report said.
When Hovis was booked, an officer found more drugs and paraphernalia in her bra, including a baggie with 31 capsules that contained a white powdery substance and tested positive for fentanyl, a baggie filled with a crystal-like substance that tested positive for meth, another baggie containing five pills that tested positive for oxycodone and two other pills in cellophane, according to the report.
Hovis currently is in the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Vandalia.